Introduction to Patrick and Ann’s Excellent Adventure

My grandmother’s parents were from Slovenia but my grandmother never got a chance to visit there. She told stories that her mother had told her about living on a farm and about having to hide in a hay wagon to avoid detection by a Turkish tax inspector. If I remember correctly, Nana used to talk about how the family’s spread was taken over by the Communists after World War II and turned into a day care centre.

For the anniversary of her 92nd birthday (19 January), our second birthday without her, I wanted to bring Nana to Slovenia and leave some of her ashes in her ancestral homeland. I was about 2 months late on my plan, but Nana would definitely say “better late than never.”

Unlike most of my travels so far, this trip was special in that it was with my youngest brother Patrick. Peter stayed home, perhaps wisely fearing too much Scanlan family togetherness. For Patrick and me, the trip was bittersweet since our other brother, Shane, wasn’t able to attend. But we made the best of it and had quite a full time traveling together for nearly two weeks.

Since I am the older, bossy sibling, I took up the mantle of Trip Planner (TM). Looking at the map, flying into Venice was the obvious choice since it was close to Slovenia and a fantastic destination in its own right. I’ve always wanted to see Venice and, given its sinking location, it seemed like I should do it sooner rather than later.

This is a story in five parts:

• Part One: Venice, Days 1-3


• Part Two: Ljubljana, Days 4-6


• Part Three: Ukanc, Days 7-10


• Part Four: Bled, Days 11-12


• Part Five: Venice, Days 13-15

Enjoy!